Church Membership - What is the Point?

I am often asked about the purpose and meaning of church membership. I ran across this article by Thom Rainer and thought it was well worth sharing.

Rainer says: In some segments of American Christianity, there is a clearly expressed concern about the concept of church membership. It is perceived to be more of a cultural influence than a biblical expression of local congregations. “Church membership is an idea we copied from secular organizations like country clubs and civic organizations,” a pastor recently insisted. “It has no place in the life of local churches.”

Admittedly, one will not find the phrase “church membership” in the Bible. But is there a case to be made that the concept of church membership has biblical foundations? I think there is.

Some Points to Consider:

Local churches in the first century obviously included specific persons identified with their congregations. For example, Paul wrote “to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi” (Philippians 1:1, HCSB). He undoubtedly knew many who were a part of that local church, because he identifies some of them by name: Euodia, Syntyche, and Clement. When Paul said in 4:15, “And you Philippians . . . ,” we could understand that phrase to mean, “And you members of the Philippian church.” While the word “members” is not explicitly used to describe those associated with a church, it does seem that the concept is implicit in the New Testament.

I understand fully why some struggle with or reject the concept of church membership. In most American churches, membership has little meaning or value. Many churches have less than one-half of their membership attend any weekly worship services. Many local congregations could not locate all the members on their rolls if they had an FBI team searching to find them. Membership means nothing because we expect nothing.

Advantages of Membership

But church membership does not have to be a meaningless concept. If our churches began to state clearly the expectations of membership, especially as new people come into the church, we could see a whole new attitude about membership.

Many of these high expectation churches stress that membership means every member is accountable to the others. All of the members have agreed on a clearly stated doctrinal position so there is no division about major and even secondary doctrinal issues. The members likewise agree to expectations of common mission and service in the community and the world. In essence, everyone who agrees to the membership standards has common beliefs, expectations, and behavior. Commitment and unity are real in high expectation member churches.

That Word “Member”

I have had more than one conversation with a church leader who would agree with the essence of this article, except for the use of the word “member.” They would argue that the word has been co-opted by secular culture and, therefore, has no place in the church.

I certainly understand that perspective. And I readily agree that there is no biblical mandate to use the phrase “church membership.” But it is not without biblical foundation.

The Bible, through the writings of the Apostle Paul, refers to the church as the body of Christ. And how does he denote those who are part of the body of Christ? He calls them “members”: “Now you are the body of Christ, and individual members of it. And God has placed these in the church” (1 Corinthians 12:27-28, HCSB). Further, note the sense of unity that comes with each person being a part, or a member, of the body of Christ: “God has put the body together, giving great honor to the less honorable, so there would be no division in the body, but that the members would have the same concern for each other. So if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice in it” (1 Corinthians 12:24-26, HCSB).

Perhaps the problem is not church membership per se. Perhaps the problem is that we have lowered the standards for church membership so much that it has little or no meaning in many churches. Instead of doing away with church membership, perhaps we should be raising the bar.

Then we might truly see the body of Christ function as God intended.

God is doing some great stuff in our midst and part of the work that is taking place involves new families who have come to join our church or simply check us out to see what we are about. Beginning Sunday February the 6th I will begin teaching a church information class for new members/ attenders. This class will cover the following areas:

Our Salvation (What God has done for us)
Our Statement (Why we exist as a church)
Our Strategy (How we fulfill our purpose)
Our Structure (When and where we fulfill our purpose)

If you would like any information on specifics of this class please simply shoot me an email.

The Gathering

Four more days until "The Gathering." Who have you invited? Who has confirmed they are coming with you? Who slipped your mind until now? Pull out all the stops and utilize every tool available: Facebook, Twitter, email, text messaging, and even the device we used before all this fancy technology called the telephone (where you can actually hear someone's voice on the other end of the phone). God has BIG plans for you and those you bring with you. Pray for them, remind them, entice them by telling them you will buy their lunch after worship. Whatever you have to do, do it in order to get them here. Your friends, family, co-workers, etc are searching desperately for hope and that hope can be found in Christ. Get them here so that they can hear a message of hope. I believe in you and the fact that you truly can make a difference in the lives of so many people.

The Gathering

The Gathering is now less than two weeks away and we need to be pumping it up by inviting everyone we can think of to this event. God is a God of radical faith and He is calling us as a church out of apathy and into intentionality. I have been praying for my three friends and already have a confirmation that two of the three will be here for the Gathering on September 12th. Don't let this opportunity slip by but rather use it as a tool to get your lost and/or unchurched friends here to hear a message of hope. Refuse to live a life of little or no impact. Commit to make a difference in someone else's life. We Gather to Scatter.

The Gathering

As I sit at my desk and type this blog, I am also praying for the three people that God has placed upon my heart to invite to "The Gathering" September 12th. I am asking God for three specific things: first, clear their calendar of any events that would keep them from coming to church that day. Second, that God would allow them to sense the genuineness of my invitation so that they would not feel they are simply part of an experiment or "notch in a belt". Third, that the Holy Spirit of God will prepare their hearts for the message of hope from His word that will be delivered in both our small groups and worship.
I want to challenge you to begin to pray these same three requests as you ask God to move in the lives of those you are inviting on the 12th. It is going to be very easy to allow apathy to keep you from not only inviting but also praying for those who need to hear the message of hope. Don's settle, don't get distracted, don't buy into the lie that it is someone else's job. God desires to use you to impact the lives of people all around you. God desires to use you, allow Him the opportunity, and then watch Him work.

This post is part of the blog carnival that is taking place over at Bridget Chumbley's blog.

The other night I made a late night trip to grocery store to get some more coffee. My goal was to just run in and run out but God had a slightly different plan. I immediately found the aisle with the coffee and quickly chose the brand that I wanted. I then began my way toward the check out line.

Before I got too far though a little First Nations boy came running up to me and said "Could you please help me get some peaches?" My immediate response was "I'm sorry but I don't work here." He just stared at me in bewilderment and replied "But I still need help!"

Of course I needed to help him now because I had no response to that (and more importantly my heart was stirred with compassion). He grabbed me by the hand and led me to his sister and pregnant mother. They were in the dairy section trying to get some peach yogurt from the top shelf and they couldn't reach it. It was a very simple need but I was able to meet it.

Nothing profound happened as a result of that little encounter (that I am aware of anyway) but it did get me thinking about compassion. According to the dictionary, compassion is "the humane quality of understanding the suffering of others and wanting to do something about it."

In the Bible, the word that is translated compassion goes to a deeper level. It means to "feel the pain of others in your gut." It carries the meaning of being deeply moved by the other persons situation. Many times in the Gospels Jesus is said to have had compassion on people (Mark 6:34, Matthew 9:36, Matthew 14:14, Luke 15:20).

Unfortunately, not many of us are compassionate on a regular basis. We always seem to have a good excuse as to why we can't help. I want to share two things I believe keep us from being compassionate:


1. We become desensitized to people's needs.

When we become desensitized to people's needs we don't feel what they are feeling. Having peach yogurt meant nothing to me but it meant something to this little family. I believe media is a big contributor to our desensitization. We see so much need on a daily basis that it can become overwhelming. As a result, we learn to not feel the pain and the hurt of others. We need to keep our heart tender towards those who are in need.

2. We become distracted by other things.

I wonder how many opportunities to demonstrate compassion we miss because we are distracted by other things? We try to cram so much into our days that there is no time to help others. We need to stop and slow down and be looking for those little opportunities. We need to build margin into our lives so that we can take the time to show compassion.

What tends to keep you and/or others from being compassionate?

An Under Cover Christian

I was absolutely blessed by this cool story of how one young lady obeyed God's call as He spoke into her life and He led her to be part of our fellowship here at First Baptist Holly Springs. She shares this story on her blog anundercoverchristian.com. Be sure and check it out. Be blessed...

April 23, 2010

In the beginning…

I’m here to share my story, how God is working in my life, so let’s start with the beginning.

I’ve been in search of a church home for the last three years. Previously I attended a very large church that I loved however now I found myself with a growing little boy that needed something smaller, and honestly so did I. A church that could become an extension of our family, a place close to home where we could be more active yet even if it was close it had to feel right. I attended many different churches over these three years then one Sunday the magic happened, I finally entered the doors of a church that had been calling to me all this time and when the sermon begain I was told to, “stop shopping churches”.

There it was…the message I had been searching for…a place that knew what my struggle was and told me what I needed. It was true, I had been shopping, why would I allow myself to shop for a church like it was a new car? Had I completely lost my focus? My heart pounded that day as I knew this was to be my home however my mind just couldn’t understand. How do you commit to something that you have only been a part of for 1 hour? I struggled as the alter call was simply to obey what God was telling me to do…yet I continued to feel a need to be in control. I just wasn’t ready to hand my struggle to God even though he was reaching out to take it…

Maybe you know the feeling…it’s time to publicly confess your love of God but you’re physically paralyzed with a trembling heart…don’t worry…God isn’t finished with us yet.

April 23rd, 2010

Still shopping…

The next Sunday came and I thought…maybe I should try just one more church so I’m sure before I commit. Maybe it wasn’t God talking to me but just me in a desperate search to belong, so I went to yet another church…still shopping.

As the music began I felt nothing but anxiety. How could I have questioned this? Why could I not trust what I was hearing? What do I do now? I can’t stay here, I belong down the road. I’ve got to get out of here…okay…I get it…please forgive me and take control. The hairs on my head are numbered, I will have faith and obey.

April 24th, 2010

That someone was me

I returned to the church I had been called to join sure in my heart and mind this is where I belong however God had heard my thoughts the week before and was there to let me know. He knew my excuse for not joining, how could I commit to something I had only known for an hour, that day he spoke to me. The pastor began his sermon and abruptly strayed going into details of his personal life and how he came to know God. The struggles he has faced as a sinner just like me, “now I don’t know who that was for but God put that in my heart to tell someone here today”, he said. That someone was me.

The alter call that day was one I’ll never forget. I stood at my seat trembling, knowing it was time to be bold. I stepped forward, stated that I wanted to obey what God was telling me, and left with a peace like no other.

Maybe it is time for you to find peace…be bold.